Saved
by Krisavengergurl
Summary: When the Avengers find a teenage girl on a mission in Africa, what will they do with her? More importantly, what will she think of them? This is my first ever story!Please read an review!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first ever Fan fiction story and I am kind of new to the whole idea. So please be nice! Also remember to review at the very end. Constructive criticism accepted and appreciated! Also, I have no idea how accurate this information about Africa is. I don't live there and I haven't ever been there!**

**Warning: A little bit of blood in the first chapter and possibly the second.**

**D****isclaimer: I own nothing except for Ashley and the story itself. I don't own Marvel or any of the characters or actors thereof. All characters belong to the people at Marvel who gave me this fantastic idea in the first place.**

I ran. I didn't know what else to do. Sometimes you don't have another option. This was one of those times. My feet pounded against the hot hard ground, reminding my enemies of my presence. I looked behind myself just in time to see a giant orange flame ball blast me forward and knock me off of my feet.

I hit the ground head first and instinctively protected my head with my arms. I felt the debris rush down around my body, with some of the smaller pieces landing on my body. I stayed down for a few long minutes before I heard shouts and gunshots. I struggled to my feet slowly with my poor head throbbing from hitting the ground. I started running again, checking behind my back every now and then to make sure that I was running away from danger and I wasn't being followed.

Where was I going? I wasn't really sure. All I knew was that I needed, no I _had _to get away from what had happened to me. So, where? Probably to outside the border. I had heard stories of people who had made it there, and successfully made it past the past the fence, and most of them had never been heard from or seen again. Probably because of dehydration or infection. They could have even been hunted down by the patrol. That was the most unlikely. Ever since the civil war started in Nigeria, most of the resources from Chad, where I currently lived, were spread thin, at least around the border where I lived. It was still plausible however. As were my probabilities of getting caught or killed. Or worse, returned to the Lighthouse...no. I wouldn't let that happen. I had been there once and wasn't to keen on going back again.

I snapped back to reality when I saw what was in front of me. There was nothing, absolutely nothing. No small adobes or shacks, and no people to push past. I was outside of the of the city limits. Where, exactly, did I go now? I remember Meya, one of my cell members, telling me when she tried to escape and jump the border. She said she once she got outside the city borders, she went straight north for 8 miles. She had even made it to the tower, but was caught and returned to the Lighthouse by the patrol.

So straight I went, straight as a rod, until I was only about a mile away from the big barbed wire electric fence. I took this opportunity to stop and rest for a moment. A flat rock and some small shrubs seemed like the best shelter I was going to get. Running under the propped up rock, I turned to see my small village go up in flames. Who had survived besides me? Had anyone else thought to come to the border like I did? That I didn't know, but what I did know is how fast fire catches, especially to dry grass like this plain had. As soon as it caught the first piece of grass, it would fuel the fire for days and days. I couldn't stay. I had to keep going. I slowly got up from under the shelter of the rock and brushed the dust and blood off of my shirt and hands. Taking one good last look at my home for the past couple of years, I turned around and started to run off.

My body ached for more rest that it couldn't receive. If I wasn't such a strong runner that was used to leg pain and shortage of breath, I probably would have. But I welcomed the pain, and used it to my advantage, letting it feed my adrenaline to keep going.

With everyone of my footfalls my target came closer but my head pounded more and more, and I got more and more dizzy. I was about to fall over, I could feel it. I could spare a little time to get my barrings again, right? I looked behind myself, and I almost jumped out of my own skin. Only about fifty yards out, there were six people, male or female I couldn't tell which. One of them was on a bike, four others running, but one was...in the air? Flying!? It wasn't possible that one was flying of course, my mind was probably playing tricks on me. But it was very realistic that it could be the enemy soldiers chasing after me, wanting a hostage as a trade for something. I decided to keep going, even though it I was about to fall over at any minute. The fence was only about forty yards away. I could make it there and perhaps I could make it there before they could catch up to me. But then, there would have to be some way for me to get past a fifty foot tall electric barbed wire fence. I was small, especially for my age, but still I doubted that I would be able to fit through one of the gaps between the wire without getting electrocuted at all. But I didn't really have much of a choice now did I?

I huffed and puffed my way to the fence with my vision blurred and my body screaming out in pain. Now how was I supposed to get past? The holes between the wire in the fence were small, but a little bigger than what I had expected. I highly doubted that there was any way that I wouldn't touch anything on my way through. I leaned my head right next to the fence to hear the buzz of electricity. But I couldn't hear it. No way! I hadn't even thought of it. Part of the control center for the fence was inside the city, meaning that it would have been burned with the rest of the town, killing the circuits of electricity that ran through the ground, therefore stopping more than half of the electricity! There was a possibility that I could make it through now with only minor injuries and a few shocks rocketing through my body. The power would only be enough to stun, not kill. It was a chance I would just have to take. I stole a quick glance over my shoulder and saw that they were very close now, only about fifteen yards away from where I was. Oh well, now or never.

Slinging my leg through the gap in the fence, I looked around to see a place where I could put my foot without it touching something. Finally I found a barren spot and stuck my foot on it, pulling my hip about halfway through the gap. It was a very awkward limbo from then on. I was trying to pull the rest of my body through hole with only one foot planted on the other side. Needless to say, it wasn't going through very well. All of the sudden, I heard a man yell loudly to me. I jumped, almost touching many of the wires, but narrowly missing. My mind was processing everything at a hundred miles a minute. Fight or flight? Flight, obviously, but I was only halfway through the fence, and I most wasn't going to be able to make it all the way through without them catching me. I would have to pull my leg out and run along to the side until I found some way to escape. I pulled my leg as hard as I could, but it wouldn't budge. My leg was stuck on something, some kind of metal bar. I kept struggling desperately to get free and run for my life, but it was as if my foot was cemented into the ground. One of my attempts failed so badly that my knee twisted out from under my whole body. I cried out in pain as I heard the sickening crunch of my bone breaking. They were only a few feet away now, and I would be a prisoner if I didn't hurry it up. With one last tug, my leg finally came free. Now I couldn't bend my knee at all. I was doomed. Regardless, I gave my last futile attempt. Of course, my knee still didn't bend, so my entire leg got caught up in the electrified wire. A big jolt surged through my body as soon as my leg touched it. The force of my trying to escape created enough force that the wires actually flipped around with me in them. For the second time that day, I was face down it the dirt.

I heard pounding footsteps, the cut of a motor, and something metallic slam on the ground. I didn't look up, knowing if I did, I would only hate them more. I didn't want that.

"Thor, go see if you can't shut that power off!" a man said. The same one said "Is she alive?" A different man said, "She should be. I don't think that was enough electricity to kill her." "Are you kidding me? Look at how small she is. It really isn't that unlikely that she wasn't killed."This time it was a woman. I felt a warm hand on my back, and I jumped away, looking like an idiot as I did so, I was sure. A soft chuckle came from yet another man. "Dead wrong, Nat. Looks like this she's a bit stronger than you might think."

It got oddly silent for a moment, with only the faint sound of shuffling of feet and my heavy breathing. "Hey, sweetheart."one of men said that was right next to me. "I'm Doctor Banner, can you hear me?" I decided to play dead, I didn't move a muscle, but it was hardly convincing after my jumping backwards and my hard labored breathing. "Can you nod your head for me so I know you can hear me?" What were my options here. Nod my head and get less of a punishment, or do nothing and get hurt worse. I nodded my head weakly. "There's a girl." he said gently. This man didn't sound like he wanted to hurt me however. Usually their voices were full of fury and violence and sounded like they wanted to harm me. None of these people sounded like that however. They all sounded nice and actually caring.

I decided to risk it and look up. I saw only five people, one girl and four boys. None of them looked hostile, but I knew that looks can be deceiving. The one with slightly graying hair, Doctor Banner I think, was closest to me. The next closest was a man with dark brown hair with eyes to match. And he had some kind of odd blue light coming out of his chest. He was kneeling down like the doctor, very close to me. The other three were in the back round. One had baby blue eyes and golden blonde hair. He was wearing red white and blue and had something that looked like a shield at his feet. The other two were wearing black jumpsuits. The woman had shoulder length red hair and blue eyes, and the man had light brown hair with light blue eyes. Usually they didn't send so many people, and no doctors ever came. What was so different this time?

"What's your name honey?"the one with the dark brown hair said. I just stared at him blankly. For some reason I couldn't find my voice. He scrutinized me for a moment before saying "How rude of us. I'm Tony Stark, this is Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, and of course, Doctor Bruce Banner."Tony said while motioning to each one of them. I still said nothing, my golden brown hair covering my emerald green eyes.

Bruce reached out to touch my arm, but once again, I backed away. Tony started talking to me gently again. "Your okay honey, we won't hurt you. Promise. Just stay still. We want to help you, okay?" I nodded slowly.

This time when the doctor reached for me I let him touch me. His hands ran up and down each part of my body, checking for broken bones of sprains or other sorts of things. I was trembling slightly, still not exactly sure as to what to believe right then. I just then realized that I had six pairs of eyes all glued on me, no one saying a word. Clint cleared his throat, his eyes shifting down. "How old are you?" Tony asked. I tried to open my mouth and say a word, but the only thing that came out was a yelp of pain when Bruce touched my left knee, the one that had broken. They all shifted forward protectively. "Are You okay?" Bruce said gently. I nodded briskly with a sharp intake of breath. "Come on Bruce, no need to break her bones again." Clint said jokingly. Obviously he wasn't enjoying the awkward silence to much either. I heard him chuckle and say, "I'll try." He then looked me straight in the eyes, and moved my head with his hands. "Follow my finger with your eyes." he instructed. I did as he asked. He smiled at me warmly before turning to the rest of the team.

"She broke her knee for sure, has some cuts and bruises along her body, maybe a slightly sprained shoulder, and a major concussion. She's also loosing blood by the second, which could potentially kill her. I can't tell the extent of the damage to the rest of her leg until we find a way to get her out of there and Thor shuts the fence off." "Speaking of which, what is taking him so long?" Steve asked. "I could get in there straight away and blow the whole thing up into the sky. It would only take seconds." "No Stark, we've already scared her enough. Your flying metal suit might just send her into shock." They all looked at me once again, and my eyes shifted down in embarrassment. One of them groaned and said "Fine, no suits. But if he isn't down within the next five minutes I'll send in JARVIS to do it himself." "Fair enough" Steve replied. What in the world were they talking about? It didn't make any sense. Thor? Jarvis? Flying metal suit? What was all of that stuff?

"Point break, what took you so long! This girl is dying!" I heard Tony yell after a couple of minutes of nothing but quiet. I looked up shyly to see the most ginormous god like looking person I had ever put my eyes on. His long blonde hair and sculpted body surly made it seem like it was true. "I am sorry, friend Stark, these mortal machines are most confusing. Is the maiden alright?" he said pointing to me. I almost wanted to laugh at his unusual language. I didn't have the strength now to do that however. "She's alive Thor, but we aren't sure for how much longer. She is loosing a lot of blood and we don't know if we can stop it." Natasha said. So this was the Thor they were talking about. "I am deeply sorry for your fate, maiden." Thor boomed down at me,"Is there any way I might be of assistance?" "Maybe, Thor." Doctor Banner said as he walked closer to me again, this time going to the barbed wire entangled on my leg. I shifted, pulling my leg, trying to escape still. It was just as helpless as ever. "Relax, we'll get you out of there" the doctor said while putting a hand on my leg. Then everyone decided to surrounded me. The doctor lifted up some wires and examined the best way to get me out without hurting themselves or myself.

"Thor, do you think you could stick the hammer right there to get some of the pressure off of her leg?" Bruce asked. "Of course friend!" Thor said merrily, walking over to where Bruce was and sticking what looked like a big block of solid metal with a handle. It looked way to big to be a hammer of some sort.

"I might be able to help somehow, back in the army we had to deal with tons of stuff like this all the time." Steve said sliding forward to where Bruce and Thor were. Steve reached his hand in and touched my leg covered with blood and wires. I yanked my leg away trying to protect it. "Hey now," Tony said coming closer to me, "I'm sure that won't help anything. Just try to stay calm. It'll help both you and I a bunch. Okay?" My response was letting him touch my leg without me clenching up. Somehow this Tony guy was very good at relaxing me, unlike most people were. "See, isn't that better?" he whispered. I gave him a small smile. He smiled back, and it made me smile a bit wider.

"Hey Tony, anything in your suit that might be able to cut these wires?" Clint asked. He shrugged, "High powered lasers maybe. I'll go check." he said as he ran back down the plain for a while. When he came back, there was something that looked like a big metal man standing next to him. "I have no idea how this got in there, but it was." he held out a small pair of wire cutters. "It'll work Stark." Steve said while taking them. Tony must have seen my confused look when I saw the big piece of metal. "This is my suit." he explained, "Whenever we go on missions, I jump on into this suit, and it protects me from the damage I would have received if I didn't have it." I decided to nod slowly, even though I was as confused as ever.

"Hey sweetheart, we're going to start, is that okay?" Bruce asked. I said a quiet yes and they all did their part to get me out. They started out by cutting the wires that were the least important and the least painful to cut. After clearing out most of the wires surrounding my leg, they had to start the process that cut the wires that were actually wrapped around my leg. Clint held my leg up so I could relax and not have any more strain on the wires than necessary. Each clip stung my leg, and ripped off my pants, along with some of my skin. I whimpered quietly at one of the more painful wires that was cut. "Shh, your okay, I promise it will all be over before you even know it." Tony said in a comforting way. He was now helping Clint keep my leg steady and unmoving. I tried to keep as still as I could, but it was becoming more and more difficult with my patience and pain tolerance growing thin.

With a few more cuts and soothing words, they were done. Or at least that's said. Steve came up behind me and helped lift me up, well, actually, he just lifted me up. Bruce, Tony, and Clint slowly and carefully pulled my leg out from the wires. Finally, I was free. Sure, I still had some wires wrapped around my calf and thigh, but I knew they wouldn't be able to get those off without something much smaller. As soon as Steve set me down, I struggled to get right back up and run. I would have fallen over again if it hadn't been for Tony, conveniently standing on the side of me, ready to catch just as soon as I fell. He did so, and pulled me back down. "She won't be able to make it out of here. Clint, call Coulson and tell him we need immediate evacuation, and to make it happen ASAP." Steve commanded. Clint stepped to the side and called Coulson, whoever he was. What were they going to do with me? Could I trust them? Would they be like the people at the Lighthouse, or were they genuine kind people? I couldn't tell, and I wouldn't be able to until I got to where ever they were evacuating me to.

I decided I wasn't going to find out. I struggled against Tonys' rock solid grasp. He only held me tighter, but gently enough that he wouldn't hurt me. "What's wrong?" he whispered in my ear. I only fought more. The struggling only made me feel dizzy and sick. Finally I gave up the will to escape. I now knew that it was a bad idea to try in the first place. I stopped and I went limp, my head resting on Tony's chest. "Clint tell them to step on it. She's about to pass out." "They're already halfway here." "Tell them to do better." Clint nodded and did so. "You hanging in there?" Natasha asked. "Ashley." I forced out. The whole group turned to look at me in confusion. "You asked my name. It's Ashley. And I'll live." They all gave small smiles knowing I could speak when I wanted to.

My body suddenly felt like it did before, dizzy and weak. I knew I was about to shut down at any minute, but I couldn't let that happen. I could stay awake for another day, make sure I knew where I was. That way there was a possibility that I could find my way out of where they were taking me. Sure, I didn't think they themselves would mean to hurt me on purpose, but maybe the place they were taking me would. I had to stay awake for at least one more day. _I can do it _I thought to myself. In reality, there wasn't any way that it was happening. The last thing I remembered was seeing flames only a while out and Clint saying evacuation was only ten minutes away.

**So what did you think? Please leave a review to tell me how I did! Any comments or questions I will attempt to answer! Remember, constructive criticism welcomed! =D I will try to get an update out sometime later this week. Thanks!**


	2. Questions and Answers

**Hello all! It's me again! Thank all of you for the lovely reviews! They made me smile!=D Anyway, I thought now would be a good time to explain some things. The Lighthouse will be explained later on, and I don't want to give away any spoilers! The reason this is rated T is to be safe and not sorry. And finally, I have a very busy schedule and I might not be able to update some weeks, but that doesn't mean I have forgotten about you guys! It just means that I am working extra hard on your next chapter =D So please read and review! Tell me what you guys think!**

**Disclaimer: Once again I only own Ashley and the story itself. I don't own the helicarrier(even though I wish I did) or any of the characters from Marvel. I don't own Marvel either. I only own my own creations.**

When I came to, I was in an unfamiliar place, with a couple of familiar faces, and some I had never seen in my life. I could tell that I was being held up by someone, and I could also tell that there was some kind of argument going on. I decided to fake sleep so I could hear what was going on without interrupting.

"Are you nuts, Stark?! We don't know anything about her! Neither do you! For all we know, she's an enemy spy. Why else would she run from you?" a man yelled that sounded like he was large and in charge. "Fury, she's not a spy at all. If she was, she would have found a way to escape from us. It was almost like, I don't know, maybe she _wanted_ to be saved somehow, and she didn't subconsciously know it." Steve said. "That's a nice sentiment Captain, but there really isn't anyway to know for sure no is there?" Fury asked. "What are you suggesting?" Tony asked. He must have been the one that was holding me, because his voice was very close. "That we drop her back off in the middle of Chad and let her find her own life again." "Now your the one who's sounding nuts, Director." Tony said in a low menacing tone. "And picking up a random little girl in the middle of Africa during an assignment isn't?" "Fury, she needed our help. She didn't have anywhere else to go. Her home just burned to the ground with her family in it. And truthfully, she looked like she had been through hell. I have seen my fair share of people like her, but I wasn't just about to let her become another person in the back round. If she needs our help, we'll give it to her." the woman, Natasha argued. "Regardless, I don't want her on this boat. If she isn't gone within the next half hour, I'll deal with her myself." "Then I guess I'll be going with her. I'm tired of following all of your orders Fury. We've done everything you asked us to do without complaint. But now, when there is a little girl who needs our help, you ignore her and pretend like she doesn't have a soul. Well let me tell you this, _Director_, if she's leaving, count me out as well." Tony finished. I could almost feel his body shaking with anger. That speech made everyone silent. "Stark, I swear on a bible, if she messes one thing up, or we do figure out that she's a spy, you'll wish you never even brought her aboard. Understood?" Fury barked. "Yes sir." Tony mocked. I heard a swish of doors opening and closing, and knew that he had left.

Had I really caused all of that? Had I just gotten these kind people in trouble, all because of my stupid weaknesses? I started to shake in fear, realizing that Fury's threat was very realistic, even though I wasn't a spy. I doubted they wanted to help me now after what I had caused. Maybe I was meant to have died in that fire. It probably would have been a less painful fate than what they had in store for me now.

I popped my eyes open and struggled to get out of Tony's grasp. "Well look who's awake?" I heard Clint say. "What's wrong Ashley?" Tony asked, setting me down carefully on what looked like a medical bed. They arranged in a semi circle around me. I looked at all of them before taking a deep breath and answering. "I heard your conversation. Maybe not all of it but enough of it to understand what's going on here. That Fury guy? Ya, he sounded like he was going to rip off all of our heads. He's right. You should just drop me back off in Chad. It would save all of you guys a bunch of pain and stress. I'm sorry I got you all in trouble. You seem very nice and generous. I'll get out of your hair just as soon as I can." I rambled while trying to inch off of the table. Bruce walked up to me and softly pushed me back on the table.

"Ashley, listen to me and trust me when I say this. I've known Fury for quite some years. His threats may be real, but with all of us here, he won't be able to get anywhere near you. You're not a nuisance, truthfully. We want to help you as best you can. After we get you back to normal health, S.H.I.E.L.D. will drop you off wherever you want to go, even if that's back in Chad." Natasha said while walking over to me on the table.

Before I could even utter out a question, a man who looked to be middle aged walked in. He wore a suit and black glasses. "Coulson." the whole group responded at once. "Bruce, Fury wants a full rundown done on her by tonight." Full rundown? What was that supposed to mean? "I can do that." he responded. "He also wants our own medical team to do the procedure." "Absolutely not. Whatever your agents can do, Bruce can do." Tony fired out. "You didn't let me finish, Stark. I never agreed to letting them do it. As long as you do it correctly and don't hide anything, there isn't any reason that you can't do it Banner." Coulson said handing Bruce a file. "I'm with you guys on this one. She," he said looking at me, "definitely needs our help. I'm here to assist you in any way I can. Only one request; don't tell Fury." with a small smile he exited.

Needless to say, I was hopelessly confused. "We'll explain later." Steve said, seeing my very confused look. "One small question Doctor, what is the "rundown"?" He flipped through the file quickly and turned to get some supplies. "Practically a medical exam." he answered easily while setting up some equipment. "S.H.I.E.L.D style!" Tony added. I laughed, half nervously, half out of humor.

"Can I ask you guys some questions while your doing this?" I asked. "Of course friend! We would be obliged to answer!" Thor said happily as ever. When I opened my mouth, Tony cut me off . "I get to ask a question first however." he declared. "Where are you from, really?" Even Bruce stopped filling out one of the sheets of his file to hear my answer. I shifted nervously. That was the one question I didn't want him to ask. "Where I was born? The United States of America, in Oklahoma city, Oklahoma. I've moved around a couple times since then, but it's where I'm from." I said looking at my feet, not wanting to answer any more questions about my past or where I had been for the past few years. I then cleared my throat and started.

"Where am I?" I asked while Bruce started checking my blood pressure and my temperature. "I guess that's a fair question. Technically, we are over the Atlantic ocean heading back to the U.S. You are sitting in a thing we call a helicarrier. It's a boat, and it's also an aircraft. Flying is much more efficient than boating in this case, so we're flying." Clint explained. I nodded while being poked and prodded.

"The last thing I remembered was seeing the fire almost right behind us. How did we escape before it reached us?" "Let's just say, when two of S.H.I.E.L.D'S top agents are about to be burned to death, their priorities change." Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes at Natasha's comment. "More like top spys" After a glare from Natasha, I implored. "Top agents?" "Nat and I work for S.H.I.E.L.D. for many years. We were paired up a while ago, and it never changed." Clint responded. Some pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place for me.

"What about my bleeding to death? How did that just magically stop?" "It didn't. You were in surgery for a couple of hours." Bruce responded. I looked down at my leg and saw it tightly wrapped and bandaged. My knee was in some sort of brace device. No wonder he didn't want me to put any weight on my leg. "You should start to feel some pain sometime soon. Tell me when it starts and I'll give you something for it."

Again, I nodded, still confused about more things than I could process at once. Then came the most difficult question. "What _are _you guys, exactly?" That earned small smiles from everyone in the room. "I mean, it's kind of obvious that you aren't just a normal group of people." Steve decided to start off the conversation.

"How long has it been since you've been in America?" he asked. "I don't know, about nine years probably, why?" I questioned as Bruce instructed me to lie on my back. "So you must know at least a little bit about Tony, right?" "A little bit, I guess." "So you kind of know a little bit about what happened with him? Afghanistan and all?" "Sure, I heard that he fought his way out with some kind of machine."

"Actually," Tony cut in, "it was a metal suit. It was big and clumpy and I could hardly move in it. But it got the job done. Why was I in Afghanistan in the first place you ask? Well, I was going there for a weapons demonstration. It was done, and on the way back to my airplane, we were attacked by a group called the Ten Rings. Basically this big terrorist organization that wanted me as their prisoner. Instead, I was almost hit with one of my own missiles that I had created. Don't get yourself wrong. It still almost killed me. Shrapnel flew into my chest, almost reaching into my heart. See this?" he asked, tapping at the strange blue light that was coming out of his chest. I nodded. "It's an electromagnet, specificity called the arc reactor. It keeps the shrapnel from coming into my heart. Long story short, I met a man there that helped me design the reactor. He also helped me escape. Once I got back, I grew kind of attached to the suit. I stopped making weapons and started making suits. I fly around now, helping people, doing as much good as I can." I faintly remembered reports people made of a flying metal man. "Your that Iron Man person?" I said in disbelief. "The very same." "So your like..." "Yes I'm a "superhero"" Very suddenly realization hit me.

"So you guys are all like, superhero people?" "We call ourselves The Avengers, but yes, we are." Tony responded. "Wait, then what do all of you guys do?" I asked. Each of them explained themselves. Clint and Natasha were master assassins, and their Avenger names were Hawkeye and Black Widow. Steve was a 70 year old super soldier, and his name was Captain America. Tony was Iron Man, Bruce was the Hulk (who I had heard about) and Thor actually was a God. Go figure.

There was silence in the air for a few minutes, and then Clint spoke. "So, what about you?" "What?" I asked. "I mean, tell us about you." I froze for a moment. I could lie. Tell them all of the important points, and twist the rest. But that could result in a meeting with Fury... I would just tell them what they wanted to hear, I suppose.

"Well, my name is Ashley Martine, and, as I said, I was born in Oklahoma city, Oklahoma. I'm fourteen, almost fifteen. Um, I don't know what else really." "What's your favorite thing to do?" Steve asked. "Either ride horses or climb. I like to climb." "So you like heights." Natasha finished. "Not exactly. I like to climb up in the air and look down at things. I guess it makes me feel more safe. I like to see things from a while away sometimes. It gives me a different point of view on things, literally." "Now her, I like." Clint said with a wink. I laughed and smiled shyly.

"Where were you before we found you?" "Chad." I answered quickly trying to avoid the questions about this as much as possible. Tony laughed. "We know that, silly, but who was taking care of you and stuff?" It got silent again, with all the attention on me. I quickly twisted the truth my way. "Um, and orphanage sort of place. I don't know what happened to my parents. All I do know is that I haven't seen them in years." Lie. I knew exactly what happened. I was there. I saw the whole thing right in front of my eyes. I turned down my head, letting the group know that I wasn't open for any more questions for the moment.

Bruce announced that all he had left was a blood test, which was easy enough. Except for one little small fact. I was deathly afraid of needles. I knew that the needle itself hardly hurt at all, but the things inside of them could and, from my experience, did mean bad things. In the Lighthouse, they used them all the time for their "tests." We were never told what they contained or what it would do to us. They just strapped us down to a chair, but a leather mask over our eyes so we couldn't see what was about to happen to us. My adrenaline started working tirelessly as soon as I saw the needle. What should I do? I couldn't really run, and I couldn't fight all of them off. There wasn't really an option. I thought of something very quickly.

"Um, Bruce, I think the pain medications have worn off now." "That's normal. As soon as we get the blood test done, I'll get you squared away." Dang, didn't work. Plan B. Wait, I didn't have a plan B. "Hey, um Tony." I said. He turned to look at me. "Do you have any jokes?" "What?" he asked looking at me, bemused. "Like, a joke. They still have those in America don't they?" I said, keeping my attention off of the needle that was coming ever closer. "Why?" "Eh, I don't know, just for something to do." I shrugged. He looked at me quizzically, but went anyway. "Why can't a blonde dial 911?" "Why?" "Because she can't find the eleven!" That sent me into laughter, along with almost all the rest of the team. I hoped I wouldn't feel the needle enter my body, but I did. Hopefully no one noticed me flinch and my body go stiff and guarded. After having it done so many times however, I was able to pull myself together fairly quickly. "What did the mother buffalo say to her son when he left for college?" "What?" we all asked simultaneously. "Bye-son! Like bison?" he didn't even have to explain. We were all laughing at his cheesy joke. Before I even knew what was happening, he was pulling the needle out and I was done.

"You're finally done, Ashley. You can go and do whatever you want now, just be mindful of your injuries. Your shoulder was tweaked a little, but nothing to serious. Make sure to use the crutches or I will make you use the wheelchair." he threatened jokingly. I laughed. "Okay!" He handed me the crutches. "Trust me, I've used these things before." I said when Tony asked if I knew how to use them. It was true. When I was four, I broke my leg and my mom had to get me crutches. They were fun to swing on until I fell off of them. It had been a while though, and I was a bit wobbly at first. After a couple of runs across the room, however, I had it down.

"Food, anyone?" Clint asked. Of course everyone said yes, and they slowly left the room. Tony stayed behind. "You hungry?" he asked. I looked at him for a moment before telling that he was a great reader. What I mean by that is he could tell what people were hiding or fibbing just by glancing in their eyes. Not that that was a necessarily bad thing, but I had a feeling that he knew that there was more than I was telling them, and he wanted to know what it was. I shifted my eyes down. "No not really. What about you?" "I already ate while you were in surgery. I'm good." I looked up. "So why don't I show you around a little bit? Just to the major places." he said. "Sure, sounds good."

He then proceeded to give me my pain medication that Bruce left me. We walked out of the medical doors and down the hallways. He slowed his pace for me and pointed out some things I would need to know while I was staying here. He showed me where to get food and how to go to the workout room. And the jungle gym. He had remembered what I had said about climbing. "But if Bruce finds you in there, I didn't tell you where it was." I laughed and agreed to his request. At the end of the tour, he showed me where we all of us would be sleeping. He showed me where each of them slept in case I needed anything at night, including more pain meds. "And this is where I am. I'm usually up quite late working on my latest suit, so don't hesitate to come get me. And if you can't get out of bed because your crutches fell or something, just yell Tony really loud. They'll think you were just mad at me, not needing help." he said as he grinned and looked at me. "And right across is you." he said, opening my door for me. I turned around. "Thanks a bunch for everything Tony. You're great!" "No problem. Have a good night." he said and he turned to go into his own room.

As soon as my door was closed, I ditched the crutches that were supposed to be helping me. Right now they were just getting in the way. I limped to the bathroom and took care of everything I had to do, including brushing my teeth and combing my hair. The room was surprisingly well stocked. I then staggered out to the closet and found a tank top and short shorts. I took everything off and put that on and flung myself on the soft bed. Before I knew it, I was sound asleep.

**Again a big thank you to everyone who reviewed! Sorry if this chapter was a bit slower. It had to be done! Anyway, I have an idea for the next chapter but I would love some input! You might just help me make my story a lot better!=D Also, what do you guys think of a Halloween story (long after this one takes place) with Ashley in or possibly not in it? Let me know what you think! And also, no offense to any blondes out there. I know plenty of blondes and most of them are more smart than I am! It was the only other joke I could think of! Please leave a review and get ready for the next chapter!**


	3. Finding Comfort in Tony

**Hey everybody! It's me again with a new update!A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot and helps me update faster! As I said before, I am doing an Avengers Halloween story, but I have decided not to put Ashley in it. If you want another story with Ashley in it, you'll have to review the first one, and I'll do the best that I can to put up another story before Halloween! One more thing. This chapter contains some French in it, as it is the main language in Chad, where Ashley was found. I don't speak French, and I looked up all of the words on Google, so I'm really sorry if I'm wrong! The translations will be at the very end! As always, I thank everyone who is sticking with me in this story. You guys keep me going!**

_**Italic= Ashley's dream.**_

Normal= Real life.

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel characters or Marvel itself. I only own Ashley, the story, and my own ideas.**

"_Tout le monde, jusqu'a!" a man barked. My cell mates and I awoke with a startle. We knew better than to make Cellmaster unhappy, however, so we quickly jumped to attention, each of our nerves high. They never woke us up before the siren unless something was very wrong. Or unless they needed us for a test. Cellmaster walked past us with an expression of hatred. He paced back and forth, making sure none of us moved a muscle until Master and his goons came in._

_Seconds later the door slammed open with Master walking in with two people on either side of him with machine guns. There were at least six others behind him half with guns, half with nothing. "Rejete." he said to Cellmaster. He nodded his stout head, bowed, then exited through the door. _

_Master did the same as the person before him, pacing in front of us, examining each one of us carefully. After a few times up and down the line, he stopped at me. I did my best not to move away in fear or punch him in the face. I looked him straight in the eye clearly saying I'm not scared of you. He studied me for a minute longer, then stepped back to where his men were. "Son." he said, pointing at me. The three that didn't have guns immediately seized me. I squirmed and turned long enough to see Meya looking after me in fear and sadness. We had grown to be good friends and look after each other. One day we planned to escape from here and find a better life somewhere. But it was possible we wouldn't even get a chance now._

_They yanked a bag over my head, not letting me see a thing of the outside world. Of course they wouldn't let us see anything at all that might give us any information as to how to escape, or what they were doing in the first place. I was used to being able to see things without being able to see anything at all. I used all my other senses to figure out where I was going. It was some kind of experiment. That much I could tell by the number of turns we had made. I could also tell that we were late or something was going wrong by the angry French shouts that echoed through the hallways. The rest I didn't know. There was always that variable, and it annoyed me and frightened me to no end._

_A set of doors swooshed open and I was forced to walk up a set of stairs. They slammed me into a hard chair and restrained me so I couldn't move at all. I heard more French calculations coming from all around me. About three people were prepping me for what experiment was about to happen. I embraced what was about to happen, knowing that the more that I focused on the negative, the longer it seemed to take. I heard the whirring of the machines also getting prepped for the test. A few minutes later, I felt everyone that was around me back off. It went silent except for the machines that were getting louder and louder. "Claire!" someone yelled above the sounds of the machines. "Commencer." another voice said. The sound of the machines got louder and closer, making me scared. It will all be over soon Meyas' voice reminded me. You'll be done in no time and they'll leave us alone. If only that was completely true. I felt the slow push of the multiple needles push into all different parts in my body. I let out a loud scream of pain._

**SAVED-SAVED-SAVED-SAVED-SAVED-SAVED-SAVED-SAVED-SA VED-SAVED-SAVED**

I shot bold upright, suppressing a scream. I had to remind myself that it was just a dream and it was over now. I escaped. They were less fortunate, and had burned to the ground just like the rest of where I lived.

I struggled to get out of the tangled up sweaty bed sheets and get to the bathroom. I ran as fast as any one person could with a just barley unbroken knee, and shoved myself in front of the toilet and threw up. Thoughts were running all through my head. Where should I go? Do I stay here? Should I find Tony? I got up to my feet, which hardly supported me, and to the sink. I brushed my teeth twice, successfully getting that discussing taste out of my mouth. I then took a couple sips of water from the sink, still pondering on what to do. Tony said if I ever needed anything I could go get him. If I did, what would I say? That I just had a nightmare and I needed someone to comfort me because, on the inside, I was small and immature? No, I wouldn't do that. It would make me to weak in his eyes. On the other hand, I could tell him I wasn't feeling well, which was true. Then I could stay with someone for a little while.

I decided that was my best bet. After a few seconds of thinking, I opted not to take my crutches. He was literally about five feet away from my room, and I didn't need to take those clumsy things over to where he was. I poked my head out of the door, looking both ways to make sure that no one would see me without my crutches. When I saw no one, I stepped out and walked the short distance to Tony's room. I knocked.

"It's open!" Tony said. I timidly opened the door and peeked inside. He looked over at me. "Hey Ashley, everything okay?" he said turning away from his project he was working on at his desk. I suddenly forgot what I was going to say. "Um, yeah everything's great." I said shifting my feet. He continued to look at me. "Whatcha working on?" I asked, pointing to his project. "My new suit. Do you want to see it?" "Sure." I said. "C'mere Ash." he motioned while rolling his rolly chair back to the desk. "Ash?" I questioned. He looked back at me. "No one's ever given you a nickname?" I shook my head. I had been called lots of things, but never had a nickname. "Well that's about to change. I'll give you a proper one as soon as I get to know you a little more. I smiled. As soon as I got to his desk, he looked at me.

"Where, exactly, are your crutches?" Dang, he noticed. "In my room. Your room is only five feet away, I didn't need them." He smirked at me. "Ya know, I never gave a crap about doctor's orders either." He then turned his attention to the project in front of him.

It was all digital, but it looked like a blueprint of some sort. It was crazy. With just a motion of his hands he could change and move things where he wanted them to go. I watched in awe as he brought it up. He picked up whatever device it was and moved it over to the bed. The patted the part of the bed next to him, inviting me to sit with him. I did so unconfidently. "I don't bite, I swear." he said smiling a small smile. I laughed halfheartedly. I scooted closer to him so I could see better. He brought up many different pictures and equations, telling me what each one meant, even though I already understood most of it. He was surprised when I said what the equations meant before he could answer them. "Have you ever had your IQ tested?" I shook my head. "That's a shame. I'll see to it that you do once you get settled in." He turned his attention back to the blueprints, every now and then asking what an equation would equal. I never got a single one wrong.

It was oddly calming sitting on the bed with Tony, looking over things that he was doing. It made me forget what had just happened to me. It even made me forget how sick I felt. "That's really impressive." I said after he was done. "You did that all in what," I said looking at the clock, "two hours?" "Try all night. I get really engrossed into what I'm doing most of the time. It takes something really big to pull me away from my projects." I smiled. "Did you sleep well last night?" "Yeah, it was great. The beds were really nice." He looked at me incredulously. "You think those were nice? Wait until you get back to Stark tower. Then you'll know what a real bed feels like."

I paused for a moment before speaking. "Tony?" "Hmm?" he said. I shifted nervously. "I know you really don't have any way of knowing this or anything, but what's your best guess as to what's going to happen to me?" I kept my eyes glued to the bed. "You'll come with us until you're healed, then you can go and do whatever you want." "That's it?" I said looking up at him. His eyebrows knitted together. "Were you expecting something else?" "I don't know, Fury just sounded pretty realistic about being the death of me." He shook his head. "We won't let that happen. And I don't think Coulson will either. He likes you." "He does? Sounded pretty unattached when I saw him." "He came to my room last night and said what he thought about you. He knows Fury isn't to keen on keeping you aboard, but he is, and he'll do everything in his power to keep you safe." "Why?" "In case you haven't noticed, you're pretty hard not to love." he said winking. "But really." he added. I laughed and he flashed me a patronizing smile.

Two quick knocks were followed by Bruce walking in the door. "Tony where's- oh there you are! I've been looking for you." he said. "Sorry I just woke up a little early and was bored so I came over here." "You're just fine. Is your leg hurting?" "A little bit." I admitted. "Come down with us for some food and I'll get you something for that." "Okay sounds good." He smiled at me and Tony then, expecting us to follow. "How are we gonna do this?!" I whisper yelled, pointing at my leg. "Just walk like a normal human and the when you get to the door, I'll sprint into your room, grab the crutches and sprint right back out here." "Fine. Go!" I said when he waited for me to go first. I stayed behind him the whole time. He stuck his head out the door, and confirmed Bruce wasn't looking back at us. He then sprinted to my door, in return slamming his head on the door because he was running so fast. He then snatched my crutches from where I left them last night, and slammed the door behind him. He tripped and almost fell when he came down the hall. I couldn't help but burst into peels of laughter after he handed me them. He looked at me grinning the same way he had before. Bruce looked behind him at saw us. "What's so funny?" "Tony, obviously!" I said. He smiled, rolling his eyes before heading forward again. We looked at each other and started laughing again. Yup, I was definitely going to like Tony.

We walked into the kitchen greeted by many things, which included, but weren't limited to the following. Thor had burned a pop tart in toaster, and was now trying to pry it out with a plastic knife. Steve was desperatly failing on flipping pancakes, which were mostly burned as well. Clint and Natasha had already made themselves food and were sitting at the table. Clint however, had just stolen Natasha's last piece of bacon. He was being chased around the table by loud screams of, "Clint! I swear , give me back my bacon before you lose that and your arm!" I started laughing again. These people were more of a family than a team. There was never a dull moment, I could tell.

When they saw me, I was greeted by a loud chorus of "Hi,Ashley"'s from everyone, including Natasha who had now jumped on top of Clint. "You'll get used to it." Tony explained as he lead me to the table. "Hey capsicle, anything edible that you didn't burn?" Tony asked. Steve looked over at him. "A couple of things. Get them while you can though." he said while pointing to Clint and Natasha. Tony walked over and filled two plates to the brim and brought them back. "Eat." he said pointing at the plate. I didn't have a ginormous appetite then, or ever for that matter. I ate slowly, watching what was going on around me like I usually did. Tony also observed me carefully. "You like to watch things, don't you?" he said as Bruce sat down next to us. "I like to see how things play out without my interfering sometimes, yes." he nodded and went back to his own plate.

Suddenly, I felt very sick once again. I focused on taking deep breaths and not looking at anything moving. My head spun and my knee throbbed. I kept sucking in air, trying to keep my body calm. "Are you okay Ashley?" Bruce asked when he looked at me. "Fine." I managed to say. I could feel his eyes and Tonys' on me. "Are you sure? You look awfully pale." I steadied myself from a wave of dizziness. When I didn't reply, he put a cold hand on my burning forehead. "Ashley you're burning!" he said. "I'm fine." I stuttered out. "No you're not. Your body probably isn't handling the stress well. I want you to go back to your room and go to bed. Tony, go with her and make sure she doesn't do anything rash. Don't let her move until she looks better and gets that fever down." He nodded and looked at me compassionately. "Come on Ash, let's get you back." He handed me my crutches, and everyone got silent. I heard questions and Bruce answering them, but I didn't pay attention.

As soon as Tony and I were out of sight, I slipped off my crutches and handed them to Tony. "You need to stay on those." he said. "You'll heal more quickly." "I don't like them." I replied. "I never did either. I give you full permission not to use them, but if Bruce catches you, just act innocent." he said, obviously trying to make me feel better. It didn't work much, however. I could feel that I was going to pass out, and hopefully it would happen later rather than sooner. As soon as we got to my door, my knees gave out and I collapsed.

**Translations-**

**Tout le monde,jusqu'a! Everyone, up!**

**Rejete Dismissed**

**Son Her**

**Claire! Clear!**

**Commencer Begin**

**Sorry for a late update! I was having a bit of writer's block! As always, review at the end and tell me what you think! I realize this chapter was a bit slower too, but I promise, in the near future it will pick up! Remember, I always love comments and I can't wait for new ones! Also, I would love ideas for not only this story but my Halloween story as well. You can PM me as well, I don't bite! I will try to have an update out on Monday of next week. Thanks! =D**


	4. New Home

**Hiya everybody! It's me again! I don't have much to say today besides a big thank you to all who reviewed, and sorry for the late update! One of my extended family members recently died, so everything's been kind of hectic. Anyway, without further ado, I give you Chapter Four to Saved!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Ashley and the story itself, and nothing else, even though I wish I did!**

I woke up in a twisted mass of sheets, my body hot. My eyes fluttered open to see Tony sitting right next to me in my bed. I shot up suddenly, disoriented and confused. "Hey, hey it's just me." he said, pushing me down slowly. "Where am I?" I managed to choke out. "The hellicarrier. We're almost back to New York." "What happens when we get there?" "You come to stay with all of us in the tower. I swear, it isn't as crowded as you might think." he joked lightly. I looked at the clock that was stationed above my door. It was almost two in the afternoon. "Why didn't you wake me up before?!" I said in a frenzy. "You had a fever of 103.8. We decided to let you sleep a day." "A day?" I said while trying to hop out of bed. "Yeah, you've been out for a day and a half now." I steadied myself and then walked to the bathroom slowly.

I looked at my pale face in the mirror, then felt my forehead. I couldn't feel anything, but it was probably because my whole body was hot. I brushed my teeth and combed my hair quickly, then walked out to Tony. "Please tell me there isn't any medicine evolved with this whole sickness thing." I moaned. Tony smirked at me, and I moaned again, throwing my head to the ceiling. He chuckled and said, "Speaking of such, Bruce told me to bring you to him once you woke up, even if that meant knocking you out again." "Mmm, fun." I said, remembering my crutches for once. We walked out slowly, Tony making sure not to walk to fast for my sake. We walked a couple of doors down, and then Tony knocked on one. Bruce came to the door. "What's up, doc?" Tony said, imitating Bugs Bunny, from one of the cartoons I had actually seen as a kid. I laughed as Bruce frowned in a playful way.

"How are you feeling, Ashley?" "Fine, actually. Just a little hot." He smiled warmly at me, then invited us in. It turns out that his room was actually the hot spot for all of them. Each of them had occupied a different place in his room, taking up most of the space. Tony and I squeezed our way through after a big chorus of 'Ashley! Are you okay, Ashley? Do you feel any better?' I smiled at them and assured them I was fine.

Just then, the dreaded medicine came. "Aw, crap." I said. "Just swallow it fast." Clint said. "It isn't a band aid, Clint." "Still, it helps!" he argued with me. I laughed a little, then grabbed the small bottle of bright red liquid. "Are we sure this is safe?" I asked Tony. "Ah, sure. It will only hurt for a couple of minutes." I turned around to face him full on. He was laughing, and I decided this would be a great time to smack him. I did, and everyone started laughing. "Don't listen to him, Ashley, it's perfectly safe." Bruce assured me. I nodded and continued to stare at it. "On the count of three." I whispered to myself. "One." "Two, three!" Tony yelled from behind me. I forced it up to my mouth and put all of it in. As soon as it entered my body, I could tell I was really going to regret it. I started gagging. "Swallow it." I shook my head, knowing I wouldn't be able to keep it down even if I did swallow it. "Swallow it!" I shook my head again, and looked back at Tony with pleading eyes. He shrugged. "Might as well get it over with." I tried to slowly ease it down my throat, and it hardly worked. I kept trying to force it back up. Tony then handed me a glass of water, saying that as soon as I had it down, I could have some. I maned up, and swallowed all of the most utterly awful thing I had ever tasted in my entire life. "Gahhhhh!" I said as soon as it was down. I snatched the glass of water from Tony and downed it all in one gulp. "You're rude." I said in a hoarse voice, pointing at Bruce. "You'll feel better now, I swear." he said. "I would rather be sick." I replied.

"Arrival in 15 minutes." an automated voice said through the speakers. "That's us." Natasha said. Everyone started to file out of the room. "Let's go Ash. We need to get packed." I nodded and followed him. "I don't really have anything that needs to be packed." "Ah, that's right." Tony said. "You can come with me then." I followed him into his room. "I had Pepper get you some things at the tower. It's not that much, but it'll hold for a couple of days. As soon as you get properly settled in, I'll give you my credit card and you can go crazy at the mall." "Who's Pepper?" I asked as Tony started to put things away in all of his bags. "Her real name is Virginia Potts, but we all call her Pepper. She's my girlfriend of a year and a half now." "Let me guess, you gave her that nickname." "Yup." "Oh boy, I can't wait to hear mine." He chuckled and smiled at me. "Just you wait and see!" We made small talk for the rest of the time that he packed.

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded and followed him out of the room. Most everyone else had already left the rooms, so the hallways were fairly unpopulated. He showed me down a couple of hallways to the main unloading deck, where the rest of the Avengers were. I got smiles from everyone, along with a place to stand. "Landing now." the same automatic voice from before said. I felt my stomach drop as soon as the voice stopped. I felt us touch down, and reduce speed. I couldn't wait to be on solid ground again.

Right then, none other than Fury popped up right behind us. He stared at us with one eye, the other was in an eye patch. He looked just as menacing as he sounded. I acted just like I would if I was in front of the Master. I stood completely still and maintained eye contact, while puffing out my chest to make me look bigger. He looked at me then. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. And you are?" "Ashley." "Last name?" "Martine." "I hope you had a wonderful time here Ashley. I hope to see you again soon." he said in an unsettling tone. I nodded and he walked off. Tony put a reassuring arm around my shoulders, clearly saying 'I won't let him hurt you.'

The gargantuan door opened, and I saw a couple of cars, some of which I could tell were very, very expensive, there were some that said S.H.I.E.L.D, and some that were military. I saw a redhead woman standing by one of the expensive cars, along with a heavy set balding man. The team started to file out onto the runway. Tony, once again, waited for me, and helped me down with my crutches that I really wished would grow legs and disappear. Both the redhead and the heavy set man came towards us. "Ash, I would like for you to meet Pepper, my lovely girlfriend." he said as Pepper walked to us. I smiled and waved shyly as she came and pulled me into a hug. "I've heard so much about you from Tony, Ashley! I hope he has behaved." she said, looking at Tony with a playful glare. He put his hands up in surrender. "He was just fine, really helpful, actually." I replied. "Good!" she said as she pulled Tony into a hug as well and kissed him on the mouth. The man came up and took Tonys' bags and put them in the back of the car. "Oh yeah, that's Happy." Tony said pointing to the man who was leaning over the trunk. He stuck a hand out from the side of the trunk and waved. I smiled and said, "Hi Happy!"

All four of us then went into his expensive looking car. Happy driving, Pepper in shotgun, and Tony and I in the back. "What kind of a car is this?" I asked as Happy started driving to the tower. "An Aston Martin- that's it!" Tony said in mid sentence. Pepper turned around in her seat to see what Tony was about to do. "That's what?" "Your new nickname." "What?" I asked incredulously. "Ashton Martine! It's perfect! Just combine the two together and you get your nickname!" I laughed. It actually wasn't to bad. "Isn't that a little long for a nickname, Tony?" Pepper asked. "Very true." Tony agreed. "That will be my personal nickname. We'll have to find another one for you." he winked at me. I smiled at him. It was difficult not to love him.

"So Ashley," Pepper said, turning to me, "I got you a room ready at the tower. Tony had some input, and I think you'll like it there very much." "Thanks so much Pepper, your so sweet!" I said. We talked for the rest of the ride back, mostly about uneventful boring stuff. "Here we are, boss." Happy said after about 15 minutes. I looked out the window to see a ginormous tower that was at least seventy stories high. At the top, it had a big A. "What does the A stand for?" I asked Tony as we stepped out of the car. "Avengers." Tony replied while walking up to Pepper and I. The rest of the team arrived in moments in one of the hummers. Clint sprinted out with Natasha on his heels. He had obviously done something bad once again. Steve stepped out rolling his eyes as Thor tried to explain something to him in a booming voice. Lastly, Bruce stepped out talking to someone on the phone who was either boring him to death or annoying beyond belief. Happy took Tonys' bags out of the back and opened the front door for all of us. I walked in slowly with Tony and Pepper at my heels. As soon as I stepped aside, Clint ran in followed by Natasha who was screaming profanities at him. Bruce came next, who now looked as if he was about to throw his phone on the ground. Last came Thor and Steve, with Thors' voice as loud as ever. "Is it always like this?" I asked Tony. He nodded and I laughed. "Hey, on the bright side, you'll never have a quiet or lonely moment here!" he said.

The floor was large, but Tony insisted that it was just a reception floor, and wasn't all that grand. There was a spiraling stair case and two elevators. Tony, Pepper and I took one elevator, and Thor took the other one, obviously intrigued by it. Clint was taking the stairs three at a time, with Natasha not far behind. Bruce and Steve walked at a normal pace up the stairs. Tony pressed a button for the 60th floor. "Are they really all going to run or walk all the way up to the 60th floor?" I asked. "Well, Rodgers is a super soldier, Nat and Clint are master assassins, and Bruce is just bored out of his mind. I think they'll make it." After a minute or so, we arrived. The floor seemed like it was bigger than all of the hellicarrier. It was lavishly furnished with couches and artwork and tables and even a mini bar. I couldn't even think how someone could have over 70 floors of artwork, crystal chandeliers, and bars and not be broke. But obviously Tony was one of the people that could afford it. It was practically a house, but Tony told me it was only a living room.

Just when I had finished taking the place in, Clint burst up the stairs with Natasha right behind him. He ran around, laughing at her death threats that would make a normal person scared out of their mind. Steve walked up a minute later, followed by Bruce who was still arguing with the man on the other end of the phone. Not surprisingly, Thor was last, even though he took an elevator as well. He burst out of it with a cry of, "By the Mjolnir, you mortals have most confusing machines!" "Make yourself at home Ashley. Don't be afraid to ask one of us about something." Pepper said warmly. I smiled and thanked her, and decided to go to one of the expensive looking and soft couches. I sighed as the soft couch welcomed me. My body was very sore from the fence still, and it felt good to finally rest. I closed my eyes and listened to everything going on around me. Clint and Natasha still fighting, Thor yelling at the elevator, Bruce repeatedly trying to console the man on the other end of the phone, and Pepper yelling at Tony for stealing something of hers. I felt a soft plop right by me and opened my eyes to see Steve. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Kinda crazy, isn't it?" he said. "Just a little bit." I agreed. He laughed. "You know, when I first got here, I stayed in the gym for three days, just trying to get adjusted to all the noise and chaos. That was until they came down there and made just as much noise as before." "I probably would too if I wasn't already used to it." He looked at me questioningly. I had said to much. Time to lie. "My foster house was always loud because of all the kids and parents trying to keep control." He nodded at me, but I could tell that he could tell I was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. He didn't push it, however. He got a little more serious then. "I can tell that bad things happened over there. I was in a battlefield for a while before the ice, and I know tragedy when I see it." I shifted my eyes down so he couldn't see my eyes go watery. "I'm not going to press on what happened. I'm not going to be pushy, not now or ever. But, if the time comes when you need to talk, I'm always here. Okay?" he said. I nodded and looked up at his compassionate face. "Thanks, I might just take you up on that." He nodded at me.

"Okay, I'm officially starving." Tony stated. "Well get something to eat!" Pepper said while hitting him playfully. "There isn't anything to eat!" he said. "Fine then, order something!" Pepper said. "Maybe I will." "Get something for me too Tony." Clint said, who was now wrestling Natasha on the ground. "Me too!" Natasha said as she successfully pinned Clint to the ground. "Oh fine, I'll just get one truck full of Chinese food." "No, Tony, let Ashley pick what we eat tonight." He turned to me. "Fair enough, what do you want Ash?" "Pizza, maybe?" I questioned. "Okay, I _really_ like her." Clint said while struggling to get Natasha off of him. It was the same for me, the team was growing on me bit by bit. Tony already had the pizza man on the phone. He ordered two of seven different kinds of pizza. Could they really eat that much? Sure, it was eight people, but that meant practically two pizzas per person. I guess I was about to find out. "Want to come see your room, Ash?" Tony asked. I nodded and followed him to the elevator. He pressed on the button for the 63rd floor, and we went up.

The elevator dinged and I walked into yet another ginormous floor with seven doors. He led me to one that was in the middle, and opened it for me. My room was huge, like seriously, huge. The walls were turquoise, my favorite color, and the carpet was white along with the ceiling. There were two mini couches to the left of me, along with a coffee table and a blue rug. At the wall there was a mini fridge and three doors, one of which held a full sized bathroom, and the other two held my new closet. There was a fish tank in the corner nearest to me, and the one opposite to it held a big stereo. My bed was off to the right a little bit, and was king sized with two steps leading up to it. And the thing that made me the most happy was what I saw on the right side of the room. Ropes, a jungle gym, with mats and everything. I looked up to the ceiling and saw that it was almost three stories high. I also saw that there was a series of nets up there. I was going to have a bunch of fun with that. There was also a rock climbing wall and trampoline in one corner. The other corner held a small kitchen. "This is just to start you off. When you want to add or remove stuff, feel free to." "Thank you so much Tony! This is so great! Thank you so so much!" I said, hugging him, dropping my crutches. "You're welcome. And, there will be another installment to your room." he said, pointing to the far wall, "But it might not happen for a couple of days." Why would I need anything more than this? It was by far the biggest room I had ever seen. "Really, I can't thank you enough." I said. "Oh no, you're just fine. I'll let you get adjusted up here. The pizzas should be here within forty five minutes, so make yourself comfortable up here until then." I thanked him again and he left.

I decided to take a shower. I would feel a lot better. I walked(without my crutches) to the bathroom. It was _big._ I got a garbage bag out from under the sink and covered up my knee so the water wouldn't get on the cast. I took off my clothes and stepped into the steaming hot shower that felt amazing. There were all kinds of soaps and shampoos, so I wouldn't have to worry about that for a couple of years at least. After being done, I walked out and wrapped a towel from the counter around me, and walked out to the walk in closet. Pepper had definitely stocked the closet too. I didn't like strict clothing, so I threw on a pair of black sweatpants and a green cotton tank top. They fit perfectly. I walked back out to the bathroom and blow dried my golden brown hair. When I was finished, I decided to go eat, and to not take my crutches, even though that was risky with Bruce around. I walked out my door and into the elevator and pressed the 60 button.

When I got to the floor I saw what I expected. Chaos. People were fighting over pizza and pop and even places at the table. Bruce pointed at me the second he saw me. "Where are they?" "In my room." Everyone laughed at how frustrated I made him. "Not to worry, I'll just carry her over here." Tony said as he came and picked me up piggy back style, being careful of my knee. I giggled and he set me down at the table. I dared to stick my hand into the crazy frenzy, and grabbed two pieces of still steaming pizza. I ate them down quickly, and grabbed a bottle of propel from the table. I ate another two pieces and finished my propel while talking with everyone at the table. By my sixth piece, I was full.

Tony tapped me on the leg and whispered, "Watch this." He pointed to one of his hands that was under the table. I looked under and saw it was full of whipped cream. It took everything in me to keep from laughing. I knew what was about to happen. "Hey, capsicle." Tony said from behind Steve. He turned around, and as soon as he did, Tony slapped him in the face with whipped cream that got everywhere. Everyone started peeling out in laughter, including Steve, even though he was currently chasing Tony around the room. I couldn't stop laughing even as Tony outran Steve and came to sit by me. After we finally controlled ourselves, I announced that I was going to bed. Every single one of them said goodnight and I walked to the elevator and went up.

As soon as I got back into my room, I changed into a pair of short shorts and a yellow tank top. I brushed my teeth and combed my hair out, then bounced onto my comfy bed. Tony was right, the S.H.I.E.L.D beds had nothing on his. I layed down and promised myself first thing the next morning I would try out the jungle gym in my new room. I didn't have a second to think about anything else before I passed out.

**Alright, once again, please read and review! The next chapter is when the action starts in! Thanks to everyone who had kept with me for this story, you guys are the best! =D I love to PM, so feel free to PM me if you want! I hope to have the next chapter up sometime soon next week. One more thing, if anyone has any ideas for Ashley's new nickname, please comment or PM me and I will take the ideas into consideration. =D Have a great day!**


	5. Who's that?

**Hiya guys! So sorry about the late update! School has been really hectic, and I have been working on my next two fanfictions! Spoiler, it's for Agents of Shield, my new favorite TV show! If you haven't watched it yet, watch it now! It's great! Also, in my story, Loki is not a bad guy! He is just Thor's brother on Asgard...for now! =D I don't have much more to say, expect that I am sorry I didn't put up my Halloween story up. I got a couple of nasty grams from a few people who said I really shouldn't make one. So it didn't happen, but I promise, I ****WILL**** make a Christmas story, or even a mid fall one if someone wants it. Anyway, enjoy chapter 5!**

The next couple of days were slow. Nothing much happened, all I did was walk around the tower and familiarize myself with my surroundings. Tony played a few pranks on everyone, but of course, that was to be expected. Everyone kept their distance, I assumed to make me feel comfortable and safe, but I didn't forget Steve's offer. I might really have to take him up on that. It wasn't that I felt alone, there was always someone doing something at the tower to keep me company, but I guess I was still in a kind of shock after what happened.

Most of the time I was in my jungle gym, which became my new home. It was challenging, even after scaling it at least fifty times. JARVIS, Tony's home system, always changed the rock wall, so I could never get used to hand or footholds. It always made me think, but somehow I always managed to scale it.

The ropes were my favorite however, because there were spaces at the top of the net let me sit and look down. I loved to be up there, not having a care in the world, just being able to see everything I wanted to see, and not being pestered by normal day problems.

I would never tell anyone, but I was very happy to have a place of my own for once. I had never had any privacy before, let alone anything to call my own. Little less, I had never had a single person act like they truly cared for me and was interested in what I had to say. This was more than I had had in a very long while, and I was so grateful that they had given it to me. I felt safe and comfortable, and for once, not scared for my life. It was the greatest feeling I had ever had.

Come to think of it, the craziest sight I had seen in this tower for a week would be what was currently in front of my eyes. I had just got done taking a shower after climbing for a good two hours, even though Bruce threatened to take down the rock wall and ropes if I didn't stop and let my knee properly heal. He had given me some leeway however, and now I was not bound to crutches.

I walked down the stairs, my covered feet making a soft _plop_ with every step I took. When I had almost made it to the bottom of the twisty stairs,I stopped my smart Alec comment to Tony when I saw a big fuss. There was Thor, with his arm around the shoulder of this stranger I had never met in my whole life. He wore green, black, and gold armor, not entirely unlike Thor's. He had shoulder length raven black hair, and emerald green eyes that matched mine perfectly. Even though Thor in his big burliness was not enough to hide that he was toned, even though that was slightly dominated by Thor. The whole team, including Pepper, were seated in the living room, with all eyes trained on the stranger. They didn't treat him as a threat however. All of them were at ease, laughing and joking with him as if he was a lifelong friend, even though I had never met him before.

I softly stepped onto the ground floor, and all eyes turned to me. "Ashton Martin!" Tony said. He promised that he would come up with a good nickname for me soon, and I held him up to that. After naming his girlfriend Pepper, I didn't know if I really wanted to know what he was bound to come up with. I smiled shyly, never really being fond of strangers, especially ones that were sitting on my spot on the couch. "Friend Ashley," Thor said, taking his arm off of the strange man and standing up, "I am pleasured to introduce you to my brother, Loki Odinson of Asgard, God of Mischief." Still didn't have any idea as to who this guy was, and why he was in _my spot_ on the couch. Loki stood up tall, but still not nearly as tall as Thor. He flashed me a perfect smile as he walked up to me. "I am pleasured to meet your acquaintance, Madam." he said in a crisp British ascent. I smiled as well and stuttered out, "Uh, yeah, me too...Loki." Didn't that mean crazy in a different language?! "And I may call you?" he asked. "Ashley. Or Ash. Whatever you like." It was odd even to me how I had grown so accustomed to being called 'Ash' over such a short period of time. I responded to it as if it were my real name from birth now. "Lady Ashley," he said, bowing deeply as he took my hand and kissed it, "I bow humbly at your service." I smiled and blushed, it was more than most likely the most sweet thing anyone had ever said to me. He straightened out and let go of my hand, grinning again. We both walked back to our spots, mine now next to Clint and Tony and Natasha.

Loki continued his easy speech, his voice and words flowing together so easily and perfectly, it was almost as if it had been scripted ahead of time. "Would you mind a moment?" I whispered into Clints' ear. He nodded and tapped Natasha, who knew what to do. She lead us to the kitchen where we would have enough privacy to talk.

We arrived without to many glances from anyone, and we backed into a corner of the kitchen. "Who is that." I asked evenly. "Loki of Asgard, brother of Thor." Clint replied. I glared at him. "Well thanks, Captain Obvious. Not like I hadn't heard that before or anything. I mean who is he? How did he get here? _Why_ is he here? How long is he going to be here?" "He's a demigod, just like Thor. He is his brother, his title is the God of Mischief." Natasha said. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?" I asked. "Maybe not directly. He does magic, the real kind. And let me tell you, it's something to see." Natasha answered again, "He got here the same way Thor did, through a portal sort of thing called the bifrost, also made possible by magic. He's here because of Fury, and I'm not really sure how long he's going to stay." "Why does Fury want him here?" I growled. Even though I didn't personally know Fury, I had grown to dislike him. "He wants Loki to join the Avengers. He thinks it would be a good addition to us." I didn't really know what to make of all of this situation. They waited patiently while I sorted everything out in my head. "Can we trust him?" I asked. My trust was not easily earned, as the whole team had to know by now. Clint nodded. "We've been tracking the both of them for a while, and both of them seem clean enough. If Thor trusts him, there isn't any reason we can't." I nodded, deciding that I would have to make my own conclusions as to if I could trust him or not, especially if he was about to become a part of the team. We had been gone long enough, and the rest of the crowd was beinging to notice. We came to the neutral agreement that it was time to go back, and so we did.

I plopped down on the couch just to hear Loki say, "I swear, it's all real, well, as real as magic can be to you." "Show Ashley." Tony insisted, his eyes wide with excitement. "Do you want to see some magic, Ashley?" he asked. "Sure." I said. "Alright then. Watch here." he replied, looking intensely at a cup of water. Oh yeah, that was some magical cup, just sitting there living its' little cup life. He shifted his hand and a moment later, the cup slowly began to rise in the air. I was sure my eyes were about to pop out of my head, and my jaw fall on the floor. It raised slowly, slowly into the air until it was at eye level with me. When I peered down to see the inside, and confirm this wasn't just some trick, I almost tipped back in my chair. The cup that was formerly filled with water, and even an ice cube, was now filled with molten hot lava that sizzled and crackled away. When I was just about to lean forward and get a closer look, the cup exploded in mid air. I tried to duck away from the hot lava and broken pieces of plastic that would soon be flying towards my body, but instead I felt cool drops on my arms and face. I uncovered my face to see brilliant drops of water falling all around, glittering in the air. Loki had a small smirk on his face. "You have _got_ to show me how to do that." I said in amazement, knowing what I saw and knowing what my brain thought it really was. "Perhaps someday I will." he answered, nodding in an almost humble way.

The rest of the night was contributed to Loki and his amazing talents. Which included, but were not limited to; magic, story telling, singing, and even mimicking other peoples' voices, which made him an exceptionally great story teller. Thor had a lot of input, saying things like, "You did not, and nor did I!" or "Loki, you are the most exaggerated teller I have ever seen!" I swear, the past two days when nothing happened made me forget how absolutely crazy this place was! Not that I really cared, I liked being rowdy and crazy, it was kind of my thing. Especially after I got to know people, to trust them.

At about one in the morning, the team decided it would be a good idea to give the guest time to rest and themselves time as well. I nodded sadly, not wanting the happy night to end. "I give you my word, there will be more tomorrow." he whispered to me, upon seeing the slightly disappointed look on my face. I smiled brightly, trusting that he would keep his promise. "Ash, would you mind showing Loki his room?" Tony asked. "Not at all. What room?" "306." "Got it. Right this way." I said, leading him to the elevator. I had memorized all of the rooms in the tower for fun, and now I knew where everything was, more so than even Tony did.I hit the button for my floor as soon as we stepped into the large elevator. There was a small _ding_ and we started to move up. I could feel him looking at me. "What's your story?" he asked out of the blue. "I'm sorry?" I asked. "Well, it's obvious that you haven't been here for very long. You look around to identify your surroundings and aren't completely comfortable around all of your team. You limp slightly, I'm guessing from a recent injury. I also am assuming that you aren't telling anyone how much it truly hurts you." I turned to face him square on as the elevator dinged again and the doors opened. "Another magic trick?" "Just good perception." he responded. I nodded as we walked out of the elevator, his eyes still on me.

I hadn't decided how much I was going to tell him, if I was going to tell him anything at all. "They found me. Took me back here to stay." was all I could manage, even after a while of thinking. He nodded, and I think that he got the point; I don't really want to talk about this. It was a very touchy subject for me, and even though they saved me, I still wouldn't talk about it with them. Loki's room was right across from Tonys', which was three doors down from mine.

"Here you are." I said while opening the door and giving him the key. "My thanks. I will see you tomorrow when we rise then?" he asked. "Yeah, of course, see you then." I waved and walked away.

I walked the few feet to my room, opened and closed the door, and plopped down on the bed. I felt better after my past couple of days of sickness, but I still was drained, most likely one of the factors of that was because it was currently one twenty five in the morning. I dressed into a cotton tank top and cotton shorts and crawled under my pleasantly cool sheets. I closed my eyes and willed for sleep to come, but it didn't. Something was wrong. I could feel it. I stayed still and played dead, and didn't even move a muscle. Until I heard the door open quietly with many pairs of footsteps following it.

I caught my breath, then remembered I had to keep up my act for whoever it was to believe me. I evened out my breathing as more and more footsteps came in the room. Even though they were very quiet, they sounded as loud as a herd of rhinos to me. I decided to quickly peek to see what was going on. I barley forced open one eye, and saw at least ten men, all dressed in black, most of which had guns. Surely JARVIS would alert Tony and the rest of the team, and they would come to my rescue, right?

But my fight or flight instinct was to strong for me to just sit and wait. I counted down from ten silently, trying to give myself enough courage to do what I was about to do. As soon as I hit one, I sprang out of bed, on the offensive for whatever might happen next.

Two people lunged towards me, but I easily ran out of their way. What I lacked in brawn I made up in smarts and speed. When the next round came at me, I ducked and tripped one, who knocked over the other. More started coming in, forcing me away from the jungle gym, where my best bet was. I was running out of ideas and time. Soon enough, they had pinned me in a corner. That was when I had to fight. I did what little Tony had taught me, including slamming into people and faking them out, and just using brute force. But it was to no avail. There were many of them, and only one of me. I became overpowered. They pinned me again, and this time one came up behind me and trapped my arms behind my back while another one pointed a gun at me. I gulped, sweat running down my face. He shot my leg, and my vision went hazy. My knees grew weak, and my ankles were struggling to support me. Only seconds later, I was on the ground, my mind blank, and my eyes closed.

**So what did you think? Do you like that Loki has a place on the team? Drop me a comment and let me know! I also love to PM, so feel free to do that as well! Once again, so sorry for the late update! There will be more soon, I promise. Keep your eyes out for my Agents of SHIELD fanfiction, which should be coming out very very soon. Much love to you all!=D**


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